Donskoy/Donetsk Cossack Town: One or Two Settlements?

Introduction. In the presented article, based on a comprehensive analysis of historical sources and historiographical material, an attempt was made to understand the problem regarding the existence of a specific Cossack town. In the historical literature, there is an opinion about the existence of two Cossack towns in the Middle Don region, within the modern Voronezh region, with the names “Donskoy” and “Donetsk.” However, not all researchers agree with this. They are talking about a town known by two names. Methods and materials. The study used historical-comparative, historical-genetic, and synchronous and diachronic methods of analysis. The source base of the research was the “skaski” of the Don Cossacks and atamans, the letters of the tsarist government to the Don, the diaries of P. Gordon and Ya. Markovich, cartographic material, lists of Don Cossack towns, replies of voivodes, as well as embassy books. Analysis. In 1676, on the left bank of the Don, between its left tributaries Tolucheyevka and Kazanka, near the mouth of the latter, a Donetsk town was founded, so named after the Sukhoi Donets River. After its destruction in 1708, the Donskoy Monastery was founded on the right bank of the Don, which, with the light hand of V.N. Tatishchev, began to be identified with the Don Cossack town that allegedly existed at this place. Yet, there is no mention of any Donskoy town in the first of the surviving paintings of Cossack towns for 1593. However, Donetsk town is well known not only from written sources but also from historical maps from the end of the 17th century. Results. It is safe to say that the mounted Don Cossacks had one town called “Donetsk.” The historical sources at our disposal do not report anything about the existence of the “Donskoy” town.